They are not paid 6 figures to add fields to JSONs. They are paid 6 figures to brainrot into obsolescence instead of going out there and creating a competing product.
The last part is working very well. Most of the innovation these days is coming from China.
I would guess they are referring to the idea that large established companies (usually monopolies) have little motivation to compete of features/technology, especially when that would cannibalize their main offering. Generally, an engineer working on something at Microsoft or Apple is going to be much less motivated to create new tech than one at a (Chinese) small business. But it gets worse than this: they sometimes hire engineers just to keep them from the competition.
That said, China has its own unique category of underutilized staff: those who are hired to work for state-owned enterprises.
The last part is working very well. Most of the innovation these days is coming from China.